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Tiger Salamander Distribution & Habitat in the U.S

The tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigerinum, is the largest land-dwelling salamander in the world, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians." Its six subspecies cover a vast area of North America, living from Canada southward into Mexico. Tiger salamanders feature broad heads, bodies up to 13 ½ inches long and small eyes. In the United States, they occur everywhere with the exception of New England, the Appalachians and portions of the far West.

Habitat
- This salamander takes over the burrows of mammals like shrews and various rodents for their own use. They prefer areas with sandy soil, in which they can dig more easily. Tiger salamanders typically remain close to their breeding grounds, which include sluggish stretches of rivers or streams, small ponds, lakes, ditches and even cattle watering tanks. Vernal pools existing in woodlands support this salamander. The presence of predatory fish in the water where they breed usually means an absence of this species of salamander.
Geography
- The eastern tiger salamander lives from New York south to Florida and as far west as Kansas and Nebraska. The barred tiger salamander occurs from Nebraska to Texas and west to Colorado and New Mexico. The Arizona subspecies has a range in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, while the Sonoran tiger salamander is a denizen native to only southeastern Arizona. South Dakota and western Minnesota are where the gray tiger salamander occurs in the United States. The blotched tiger salamander lives in the north-central part of the country, with some individuals in Idaho and Washington state.
Populations
- An estimated one million tiger salamanders exist in North America, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The isolated groups in portions of the East, cut off from each other, risk extirpation from that area. The creation of small ponds across their ranges that lack fish has been a boon for the tiger salamander. The amphibian quickly moves into such bodies of water and generates colonies.
Diverse Colors
- The different subspecies of the tiger salamander distributed across the United States feature diverse coloration. The eastern type, for example, is dark with a series of olive spots on its body. The barred tiger salamander takes its name from the yellow stripes on its body. Colored blotches are the trademark of the blotched tiger salamander. The gray salamander is dark brown to light shades of olive green, with dark spots. Yellow spots and a brown belly help identify the Sonoran version; the Arizona tiger salamander is grayish with dark marks on it.

Nature